Blogging Portfolio III- Yay! We Are Done!

Welcome to my final blogging portfolio. Although I am very happy to finally be finished, I know that this class has been very valuable to me. I have written what I feel are a lot of great blogs this semester that you can find by clicking on the links below.Please take a look!

I also want to say that, for me, this course has been difficult but rewarding.I feel that it has pushed me to my limits in a constructive way, showing me what I am capable of.I think this can be see in both of my blogging portfolios, as I was sometime thrown a bit off course by the work, submitting things a little bit late; however, I always tried to provide interesting or insightful blogs on the many topics that we discussed in class.

Although I have learned so much from all of the Literary Criticism we have read in this class, I have probably learned more from my classmates.Everyone was always so perceptive when it came to our readings.Someone always understood them enough to provide enlightenment either on their blogs or in class.I think that this idea was best exhibited yesterday and last Thursday when we all presented our Term Projects.Every group selected very different topics that were all fascinating and all of the criticism, research, and commentary was extremely well done.Here are some of my feelings on these projects:

oI loved their idea of going to a high school classroom to try to teach high school students literary criticism to see if they could grasp the concept. And, they were successful.As we discussed these topics in class, I also wished I would have been exposed to more than a historical stance to criticism in high school. I was a great idea for them to bring in actual students for them to explain and show us all that they had learned. The posters were also a great effect.I think this was one of the most creative projects.

oI really enjoyed Quinn and Sue’s skit of an interview between J.D. Salinger and a college student. They really did a great job capturing Salinger’s voice and possible author intent in a creative way. It was a very funny and enjoyable way for us to see how literary criticism can be applied to many types of works in many creative ways.

oThe scene that they acted out was phenomenal!They obviously worked so hard on the scene and their props.However, I was most surprised by their acting.I was amazing!They understood the characters perfectly, sounding like them, using the same body language and facial expressions-it was just fantastic.Their website was also insightful and well executed and very thorough.I gained new insight into the movie through literary criticism in all aspects of their project.

oThis was very different from Angela’s and Derek’s project, but equally entertaining.I liked how they, like Angela and Derek, used a variety of media to present their project.The first video was so cute, and the final one was hilarious!I also like that they used three very different versions of the story to illustrate their points.This was very effective and interesting.Finally, they often questioned the class about their opinions and this interactivity made the presentation more fun and relatable to our own lives.It was so creative to take a seemingly simple story and, using literary criticism, take a new look at it.

oI loved Mara and Kayley’s presentation because, although I am familiar with the books, I had no idea that they were originally written in the early 1900s and that many of them were written by ghost writers.I thought that the differences that they pointed out were so interesting because I would never have even noticed most of them, for instance the differences in the coloring on the front covers.Like Ellen and Bethany’s choice of texts, Mara’s and Kayley’s was simple, yet surprising in all that was revealed in it through literary criticism.

J.R. and Michelle: “Gin and Juice”

oI, surprisingly for me, loved this presentation.I absolutely dislike rap of any kind, not only because I dislike the unwarranted use of inappropriate language, but mainly because of the treatment of various subjects including violence, sex, abuse, women, drugs, etc.Basically, I like the music, but dislike the message.However, J.R. and Michelle presented thought provoking ideas through their use of literary criticism on the song, as well as chose a great supplementary text.They kept the audience and cultural ideas in mind as they presented this controversial subject in a respectful and professional manner.I especially found interesting the fact that they pointed out that the only respectful word that was used for women in the song was the word “momma”-the mother was never degraded like the other women in the song.This was an interesting point that I think should be looked at in other rap songs, since it might give many insights into rap culture.

All in all, I feel that through class discussions, blogging, paper writing, and these projects, I have come to appreciate the study of literary criticism, as well as to realize how important a tool it can be when evaluating all aspects of the world around us.